Recent games have shown that Sergio Conceicao has not been able to wave a magic wand and fix AC Milan’s problems, according to Antonio Vitiello.
Milan’s results in the league under Conceicao so far tell their own story, starting with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Cagliari at San Siro in which the team missed a big chance to cut the gap to the sides above.
Then there was the 2-1 win over Como in which a second-half comeback was required to avoid defeat against relegation-battlers, which was followed by a 2-0 defeat away at Juventus in which they were deserved losers.
Sunday’s win over Parma might have been the most symbolic: a terrible performance for 90 minutes, trailing 2-1 and then a late frenzy of action saw Tijjani Reijnders and Samuel Chukwueze turn things around.
Vitiello published his weekly column for MilanNews and – in addition to speaking about the two signings needed before the January window closes – he touched on recent form in the league.
“Watching Milan-Parma (but the discussion can also be extended to the matches against Como and Cagliari) you can see how Milan with the coach has shown more or less the same problems as before,” he said.
“The coaches change but the team always shows the same drops in tension, wrong approaches to the matches and that lack of competitive nastiness that Conceição brought out after not even ten days in office.
“The team has innate limitations, which will be difficult to resolve because they are characteristics inherent to some players. The feeling is that several players in the squad will play for their permanence at Milan by the end of the season.
“And not only that, even some directors are under observation, after all if the results don’t come it is right to change. The rule applies to everyone.”
Okafor, Jovic (release is also fine), RLC permanent sales, while Terracciano on loan
unfortunately, Royal Blunder begged his ex-teammate to injure him (Gil and him used to play for Tottenham)
Maybe you fools shouldn’t have played royal and ruined the sale, imbeciles
Moncada is surely staying, he’s perfect for Gerry’s vision of this club – hoarding cheap foreign labour force. Furlani is Elliott’s pooch.
They’ll probably get some bs sporting director like this D’Otavio guy or whatever he was. Another spineless clown.
“The team has innate limitations, which will be difficult to resolve because they are characteristics inherent to some players.”
This. Been saying this for a while. It’s not really the coaches at this point. It’s 5-6 dogs in the squad. Leao is one of them, but I’m undecided if he should be the only one tolerated. In ideal circumstances, a squad with 10 warriors can carry one primadonna, but not 5-6 of them. Theo, Tomori, Calabria, RLC, and Abraham can all go. Interestingly, I’m beginning to wonder if the three English flops are a clique that’s creating a drag on the side. All three are former Chelsea flops now flopping here.
The problem with this thinking is that even this year pretty much all players out of loans perform better than the ones that stayed. The problem is same as with Man U. Bad recruitment of management.
Same problem as before? Nah, We didn’t have an issue with top 4/UCL spot before. We do now!
ACM’s problem isn’t Conceicao – he’s a charismatic coach who has shown fight and grit and the ability to improvise tactically to get the best out of his team in matches; rather, the problem is the ownership’s failure to invest in bringing the best players to the club. ACM is a storied global cultural institution with an illustrious heritage; it shouldn’t be treated as a mere commercial asset. The ownership has to make financial sacrifices in order to restore the club to its position among Europe’s elite. It has to look to long-term – not short-term – profit. It’s a gross historical travesty that ACM should be languishing in the mid-reaches of Serie A and is no longer able to mount a serious challenge in Europe’s premier competition. Until top players – not rejects from top clubs – are enlisted, ACM will remain mediocre and continue to disappoint. The club’s fate shouldn’t be to serve as a retirement village – or a nursery – for other clubs. If the current ownership doesn’t have the economic heft to buy the best players, it should get out and make way for parties with deeper pockets that do.
While I’m at it – if I may turn to a different issue: I can’t for the life of me (I’m not Italian and don’t live in Italy) understand why the Italian authorities – local, provincial, and national – won’t cut the red tape and help expedite the construction of a state-of-the-art, world-class stadium for the two Milan clubs on the San Siro site. In London, in this century, Arsenal and Tottenham have built new stadia on, or next to, the sites of their old ones; and old Wembley – where England won its one and only World Cup in 1966 – was pulled down and replaced by a new Wembley. Milan – one of the great cities of Europe and the undisputed capital of calcio – needs a new Guiseppe Meazza at the sacred San Siro site as a matter of priority. How many more years must fans wait for the dithering that has delayed this project to finally end?
Great points and good questions